KATY - Katy ISD, which added some 2,865 students between October 2013 and October 2014, is expected to hit nearly 100,000 students by 2024, according to the report by College Station-based Population and Survey Analysts.

Using data points such as new housing starts, planned construction projects, unemployment rates and student enrollment, the analysts help districts plan for growth, including where to locate new schools.

"This year has been the most exciting in regard to growth," said Pat Guseman, the group's president. The Katy ISD growth rate has been steadily accelerating since 2012, a trend expected to continue through next year when it will hit 4.5 percent, bringing student enrollment to 73,606, according to the projections.

Much of that growth will be driven by the district's youngest students, according to the report. "You're really leaping forward with elementary students," Guseman told the school board at its October meeting. According to this year's projections, the district's elementary student population could hit 41,982 by 2019, almost half of the total district population projected for that year.

Part of the draw for young families with students in elementary school, said Guseman, is the growing stock of new apartment units, which at 3,252 will comprise more than half of the more than 6,000 new housing units on the horizon in the next year.